Songfacts®:

• This is the title track of Defy, Of Mice and Men's fifth album. The record finds the band defiant in the wake of the departure of frontman and principle songwriter Austin Carlile in 2016.
  
  "To defy means to challenge the power of; resist boldly or openly," commented the band's new vocalist Aaron Pauley. "Our song 'Defy' is all about digging your heels in and being defiant towards feelings of hopelessness and defining yourself in the process."
• Here's what Aaron Pauley told Kerrang about the track:
  
  "A song has to have something about it to open an album, and this was just a ripper! It's fast-tempo and energetic, and it has a super heavy element to it. For us It also reflects the overall theme of the record. Naming the album define was important, because we feel in a lot of ways like we are defying people's expectations. No matter what you do or where you are, I think human beings experience that a lot. They feel like they have to defy the odds, which aren't always in their favor."
• Aaron Pauley told HMV.com this was "one of the easiest" tracks on Defy "to write musically, but lyrically was more difficult."